Goosebumps
by dawnlightmarie
Summary: Jacob's point of view when he and Bella first meet at the beach and when he's telling her about the Cullen's and the other 'cold ones'. Oneshot.


Jacob's POV

We heard the familiar sounds of teenagers from Forks on our beach. It was finally nice enough out to have a bonfire, so a bunch of us followed Sam down our usual path to the beach, and when we got there, Jessica Lade gasped at the serenity of the darkening landscape, something she had never seen before; her grandparents, her legal guardians, didn't like Jessica going out much unless Sam was around, a strange arrangement if you ask me. But even if Sam came with us, Jessica didn't usually like hanging out with all of us, a bunch of guys.

We got down to the beach and immediately started talking with a group of kids down by the fire. Just as we were sitting down a larger group came in from the tide pools. A boy listed off all of their names.

"And this is Angela Weber, Mike Newton, Bella Swan," somehow, I detected a little more warmth from the boy when he spoke the girl named Bella's name. Wait, Bella Swan? Isabella Swan maybe? "And I'm Eric."

Trying to figure out if this was the Bella I was thinking about or not, I watched her closely while Sam told their group our names.

As Embry finished devouring his food, I asked him and Quil about the girl, trying to find out who she was. In a town as small as Forks, it was unusual for me to find someone new who I wasn't exactly sure who they were. I hadn't heard anything about my dad's friend's daughter coming to stay.

Embry ignored me, but Quil said, "Isn't she Charlie Swan's daughter? I think my dad said she was coming to live with Charlie for a while. Maybe you should go over and say hi."

At first, it seemed like a good idea, but then I froze with fright. _I can't just walk up to her! She must have a boyfriend. Maybe that Eric guy. And the boy named Mike keeps looking over at her. _

Sometimes I think Quil and Embry can read my mind. Or at least my face. "So what if she's got a thing going with someone? Go on. That girl who was sitting next to her is gone," Embry chimed in. He gave me a rough shove and said, "Go!"

"Fine, fine," I hushed. "You don't have to shout."

I walked over to the empty side of her bench.

I saw just how pretty she really was as I got closer. She had dark brown waves and eyes that matched her hair exactly. Her skin was so translucent it practically sparkled in the firelight. But I could tell how easily those pale cheeks could get red. I had seen a few of her easy blushes a few times with her friend Jessica.

"You're Isabella Swan, aren't you?" I asked.

She looked at the ground in defeat then sighed, looked back up at me, and said, "Bella."

"I'm Jacob Black. You bought my dad's truck." I explained, sticking out my hand for her to shake.

"Oh. You're Billy's son." I nodded. "I probably should remember you." She frowned as if trying to force herself into remembering.

"No, I'm the youngest of the family – you would remember my older sisters."

"Rachel and Rebecca," she recalled. "Are they here?" she asked, glancing around.

"No," I answered. Seeing her slightly cock her head in question, I explained. "Rachel got a scholarship to Washington State, and…Rebecca married a Samoan surfer – she lives in Hawaii now." My dad and I didn't exactly approve of her early marriage, but there wasn't much we could have done to stop her anyway.

Apparently, Bella was just as shocked as we were when we first heard the news. The twins are just a little older than Bella. "Married. Wow." Her lips parted slightly, she stared at my feet, apparently wondering what could have driven Rebecca to marry so young.

Sensing the awkwardness of that subject, I asked, "So how do you like the truck?"

"I love it. It runs great." I watched her for a second, waiting for the punch line, then burst out laughing.

"Yeah, but it's really slow. I was so relived when Charlie bought it. My dad wouldn't let me work on building another car when we had a perfectly good vehicle right there." That awful truck was the bane of my existence until Charlie came to our house and asked Billy for it as a kind of homecoming gift to his daughter. I grinned, still happy about the sale.

"It's not that slow," she insisted. So she really does like it.

"Have you tried to go over sixty?" I teased.

She frowned. "No..."

"Good," I grinned. "Don't."

Her face lit at my smile. It was a beautiful sight. I could almost hear Embry snickering at me from across the fire.

"It does great in a collision," she said, continuing to defend her truck.

"I don't think a tank could take out that old monster," I agreed, trying to widen her grin.

It worked.

We talked about cars for a little while then a snobby-looking girl starting asking me about how Bella and I knew each other. Then she started talking about the Cullen family as if she was trying to spite Bella with the mention of their name. Despite the ridiculousness of my reaction, I hardened at the sound of their name.

Growing up, I was taught that the Cullen's were our enemies. Of course the stories were just that, stories, but their name still sent a twinge through my body. As the oldest, Sam made sure the girl knew that the Cullen's don't come here. Sam just takes these things so seriously, exactly like the elders. The whole reservation was upset when the Cullen's moved to Forks.

After Sam finished speaking, Bella looked a little weirded out, so I tried to distract her by asking, "So is Forks driving you insane yet?"

She turned back to me and said, "Oh, I'd say that's an understatement." I half-laughed in understanding. Her face changed for a minute, then she turned toward me with an odd smile on her face. "Do you want to walk down the beach with me?"

I threw a split-second, wild glance in the direction of Quil and Embry. Did she really want to go alone somewhere?

I didn't give her a chance to back out.

As we walked, sky grew darker and the air grew colder around us. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Bella shove her hands into her pocket and heard her ask, "So you're, what, sixteen?"

Wow. I looked down and blushed, silently pleased that she thought I was that old. But even if she thought I was sixteen, she's still should be a year or two older. "I just turned fifteen," I admitted.

"Really? I would have thought you were older." She looked surprised but not like she was…losing interest. I was glad. Bella seemed really interesting. I didn't want her thinking I was just some little kid.

"I'm tall for my age."

Sounding like she wanted a yes, she asked, "Do you come up to Forks much?" Did she want me to come visit her sometime?

She looked at me through thick lashes, her deep, warm, soft brown eyes pulling me in, as if on purpose.

I looked away and scowled to myself. I don't go up to Forks that often. I told her that, but she seemed alright and changed the subject back to the Cullen's. She had seemed very interested in them from when her friend (type person) brought them up and must have wanted to know why Sam was acting so harshly toward the family.

Even though I wasn't supposed to, I decided to tell her a little about our history. "Do you like scary stories?" I told her about the cold ones, the normal kind and the kind like the Cullen's, and she seemed scared. Worrying a little, I reminded her that the stories were just old tribal legends – not at all true. I warned her not to tell her Charlie; I could get in big trouble with my dad.

"So do you think we're a bunch of superstitious natives or what?" I asked, trying to lighten the mood. Bella seemed so comfortable with me, like she could maybe even like me as more than a friend. I didn't want to get my hopes up, but scaring her was probably a bad idea.

"No. I think you're very good at telling scary stories, though. I still have goose bumps, see?"

"Cool," I grinned.

We spun our heads around to see Bella's friends Jessica, who's name I remembered only because of the Jessica on the reservation, and Mike, who's name I remembered because I had heard someone call to him while Bella and I were still by the fire, walking down the beach toward us.

"There you are, Bella," Mike called loudly, sounding jealous.

"Is that your boyfriend?" I asked softly, hoping my earlier suspicions weren't true. Especially if Bella was here flirting with me. Mike wouldn't be happy.

"No, definitely not," she answered, slyly winking at me. It made my heart beat so hard it wouldn't even slow down from its ecstatic rhythm when I saw Sam quietly walking away about a hundred feet behind Mike and Jessica, unseen by anyone else. I knew I would probably be in trouble later for telling Bella our stories, but it didn't even matter to me.

"So when I get my license…" I trailed off.

"You should come see me in Forks. We could hang out sometime." She looked a little guilty, for some reason, when she said that, but it still didn't matter to me.

Mike and Jessica got to us, and they took her away, back to Forks. But I'd see her soon enough.


End file.
